Baskets are commonly used for shipping and selling goods such as fruits and vegetables in markets, as well as other products. Conventional baskets are made by assembling a blank forming a tray-shaped container and attaching thereto a separately provided handle component. For example, a plastic handle may be mounted onto the container by fitting inserts of the handle into corresponding slots of the container. Other baskets have a wooden handle which is permanently stitched to the container. Such baskets usually have a container component made of wood, plastic or cardboard.
Moreover, conventional baskets are usually provided with rigid handles (for example, plastic, wood), and are therefor relatively difficult to stack or to store in an efficient manner. Therefore, the basket components (i.e. the container and the handle) are usually delivered separately to a customer, who must then assemble the components to make the baskets. This step requires time, equipment and labor.
Furthermore, in order to dispose of baskets having a container component made of a cardboard material for recycling, the basket must be disassembled or dismantled in order to properly dispose of each component separately. Such a task also requires labor and presents handling problems in some cases, discouraging consumers from recycling the baskets.
Therefore, there is a need for a pre-assembled basket which is convenient for shipping and/or storage, and which is also easy to dispose of for recycling.
Known to the Applicant is U.S. Pat. No. 1,000,673 (AKKERMAN, Allardus A.) granted to Domtar Limited on Nov. 30, 1976. A single paperboard blank is folded into a container for a basket, having a bottom wall and side walls. A handle is formed by a band running across the bottom wall and part way up the side walls. The band is pulled upward to provide the handle, leaving an opening in the container of the basket. Thus the basket is provided with a handle extending integrally from the bottom of the basket and avoids the necessity of assembling a handle having been provided separately.
The basket of AKKERMAN nevertheless presents a number of drawbacks. Namely but not limitedly, the handle leaves a fairly large opening in the bottom of the basket. The contents of the basket must be relatively large in relation to that opening or specially oriented to avoid falling in the bottom hole left behind by the handle.
Hence, in light of the aforementioned, there is a need for an improved system which, by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome some of the above-discussed prior art concerns.